Opening My Doors.

I have no physical relationship to Dell. He’s one of my best friends, and I’ve known him nearly all of my life. I first walked the home when I was 11 years old. Little did I know then what was to happen.

In winter of 2019, Dell called me over the phone and invited me to the home. This was very unique because those who know Dell, know he doesn’t ask you to come over; you ask him. So, as you can imagine, I was rather eager and showed up the next morning. 

He and I sat in the vault together smoking our pipes, as we would. We’re enjoying conversation, when he casually asked me, “What would you do if I were to give you all of my beautiful things?” 

So here we are now, doing what we’re doing :)

It’s rather funny because I didn’t have to think about the answer. I already knew precisely what I was going to do, almost as if I always knew; I just didn’t know exactly when or totally how. 

I live in this space with my growing family, separated by a door to the studio. We moved into the house with Dell and cared for him the remainder of his life. When he transitioned from this life, he entrusted me with his wonderful home and all the beautiful things inside.

Following his death on December 1, 2024, I began the formal documentation process for the body of work and labored throughout the home in what I call a Rubik's cube fashion. The organization and thoughtfulness involved has changed my personal values and given me cleaner lenses to look at life and see different things. 

I’m a Board Certified Master Arborist by trade and practiced Tree Care for well over a decade. I worked privately as a consultant and as a municipal arborist/forester before this project. There’s less than 100 people in the world that have the level of credentials I hold. I’m currently the youngest person within the international society of arboriculture to do so.

I’m not formally educated in any way regarding art, art history, paintings, technique, preservation, nothing. I don’t hold that type of degree, nor am I a practicing artist in any way. I know trees, their biology, anatomy, physiology. How to climb ‘em – cut ‘em down. 

I am, however, informally trained and was directly instructed by an obvious Grand Master. During my 4-year direct instruction period, I was exposed to so much! Dell ensured that I understand what’s here on a deeper level than just how a brush stroke works, what the color spectrums are, eye paths/framing, or the importance of light source. 

If there was only one thing I was taught by him, it was appreciation for how something was created from start to finish, the process. I know how many times it was made over and over again before ever becoming physical and I could hold it in my hands. I understand the internal refining that’s involved: 

the pain of labor

the struggle

the birth

the desire

the inevitable death 

the eternal energy

the exchange of love.

He told me long ago when I first started this project that if I didn’t find a way to show his work properly, it wouldn’t work. He said, “I could have made one of the most beautiful things in all the world, but if you don’t show the world properly, then it will never stop and look. If no one looks, then the energy is wasted, and the magic was never real.” 

I can’t begin to explain how difficult this project has been on my family and myself. The level of sacrifice they’ve unknowingly had to give has been near unacceptable. I myself have considered collecting Dell’s gas can out back and burning the house down.

With the sunrise as my alarm, I have uncountable days in which I’ve worked through the night into the morning. I’ve had to re-adjust my goals, thinking, and reasoning time and time again, refining why I’m doing what I’m doing. 

You might look at one picture for 10 seconds. But in that 10 seconds, you're looking at countless sleepless nights, thousands of hours of set up, years of cleaning and thoughtful preparing, and then a lifetime spent making the things shown.